Obama: Some Of My Campaign Ads May 'Go Overboard,' But Focus Is On Differences With Mitt Romney

In an unaired excerpt from an interview with "60 Minutes," President Obama stood by his campaign advertising, admitting that while some spots can "go overboard," most focus on the critical differences between the president and Republican opponent Mitt Romney.

When asked by CBS' Steve Kroft about the "nasty and negative" campaign ads run under his name, Obama said that most of them simply point out areas where he and Romney differ on how they believe the country should be run.

"Do we see sometimes us going overboard in our campaign-- mistakes that are made, or areas where there's no doubt that somebody could dispute how we are presenting things? That happens in politics," Obama said.

Obama continued: "The truth of the matter is that most of the time we're having a vigorous debate about a vision for the country, and there's a lot at stake in this election. So is it going to be sharp sometimes? Absolutely."

Both Obama and Romney have come under fire for using false or misleading statements in campaign advertisements. However, as the Los Angeles Times pointed out, the boost from buzz around controversial ads can often outweigh the merits of factual accuracy.

One notable example came from the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA, which produced an ad linking a woman's death to Bain Capital closing a steel plant. The spot set off a rash of criticism after many pointed out its inaccuracies. While the Obama campaign claimed no affiliation with the ad or the super PAC, the attention generated by news reports on the controversy gave the spot a huge bump in online viewers.

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